For this particular study, the researcher utilized the Maslach Burnout Inventory Educators Survey, which short term name is the Mbi-Es. The Mbi-Es survey contains 20 items, which is different from the well-known Maslach Burnout Inventory Survey which consists of 22 items (Maslach & Jackson, 1986). Both contain three scales: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. The complete scale has a Cronbach´s Alpha value of 0.85-0.87.
Table 3.1
Items of Emotional Exhaustion
Question Items I feel emotionally drained by my work
I feel used up at the end of the day
I feel fatigued when I have to get up in the morning to face another day on the job I feel ‘burned out’ from my work
I feel I’m working too hard in my job I feel like I’m at the end of my rope
37 Table 3.2
Items of Depersonalization
Question Items I can easily understand how my students feel about things I feel I treat some students as impersonal ‘objects’
Working with people all day is really a strain for me I worry that this job is hardening me emotionally I feel frustrated by my job
I don’t really care what happens to some students
I feel some students blame me for some of their problems I try to keep away from the personal problems of my students
In my work, people bother me with personal problems that I don’t want to be bothered with
Table 3.3
Items of Reduced Personal Accomplishment
Question Items I deal very effectively with the problems of my students
I feel I’m a positive influence on other people’s lives through my work I can easily create a relaxed atmosphere with my students
I feel exhilarated after working with my students
I have accomplished many worthwhile things in this job
Psychological Capital
For this study the Luthans, Avolio, and Avey (2007) 19-item Psychological Capital Questionnaire PCQ was used to measure the psychological capital variable. The PCQ main objective is to measure the four components of psychological capital. Due to the nature of the participants in the study, the items on the Psychological Capital Questionnaire were modified slightly to be more relevant. This scale yielded a Cronbach Alpha of .86 which is considered
38 sufficient.
Table 3.4
Psychological Capital: Questions in 4 dimensions
Dimension Question Items
Self- Efficacy (6 items)
I feel confident analyzing a long-term problem to find a solution.
I feel confident in representing my performance in meetings with instructors/faculty.
I feel confident helping to set targets/goals for myself.
I feel confident contacting people outside the class.
I feel confident presenting information to a group of colleagues.
If I should find myself in a jam, I could think of many ways to get out of it.
Hope (4 Items)
At the present time, I am energetically pursuing my goals.
There are lots of ways around any problem.
Right now I see myself as being pretty successful in teaching.
At this time, I am meeting the goals that I have set for myself.
Resilience (5 Items)
I usually manage difficulties one way or another when I´m teaching.
I usually take stressful situations in stride.
I can get through difficult times in teaching because I have experienced difficulty before.
I feel I can handle many things at a time during my day.
When things are uncertain for me in class I usually expect the best.
Optimism (4 Items)
If something can go wrong for me, it will.
I always look on the bright side of things.
I’m optimistic about what will happen to me in the future as it pertains to teaching.
Things never work out the way I want them to.
Job Standardization
For this study Hsieh and Hsieh’s (2001) five-item scale was adopted in order to measure
39
the degree of job standardization at work. This is because this study seeks only to find out if their jobs are standardized so no deeper survey was found. Due to the fact that for this study only teachers are being interviewed the word “department” was changed to “school” through some of the items of this section of the questionnaire. One of the five items says: Our company effectively uses automation to achieve consistency in serving people. This item was removed for the purpose of this study because it is related to automation which is not something teachers deal with. Hsieh and Hsieh´s five-item scale yields a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.70.
Table 3.5
Items Regarding Job Standardization
Question Items
There have no standard operating procedures in this school. (R) We are to follow strict operating procedures at all times in this school.
Whatever situation arises, we have procedures to follow in dealing with it.
Everyone has specific operating procedures to follow in this school.
Workload
For this study the Quantitative Workload Inventory (QWI) was adopted, this instrument was developed by Spector and Jex (1998). This 5-iten scale is designed to understand the amount or quantity of work in a job, not the level of difficulty of the job which would be de qualitative workload. There are several versions of this scale which are longer but for this study the researcher chose one of the shortest versions. Spector and Jex (1998) reported that the Quantitative Workload Inventory reported an average internal consistency of .82.
40 Table 3.6
Items Regarding Workload
Question Items My job requires me to work very fast.
My job required me to work very hard.
My job leaves me with little time to get things done.
I often have a great deal to be done.
I often have to do more than I can do well.